One of the biggest questions that fans had on their minds when reading the Twilight saga was if Bella would end up with Edward or Jacob. While it seemed fairly obvious that Edward and Bella were the endgame couple, many fans rooted hard for Bella and Jacob.
The ship war even spawned the Team Edward and Team Jacob phenomenon. But, the real question is which of these two was the better character overall.
Jacob: He started off as a sweetheart
Jacob Black is introduced in the series as a young teen who is overall pretty gentle and kind. He really is quite the sweetheart, and he’s a good friend to Bella. He totally seems like the type of teen you’d want to be friends with while in high school, and while he still had some growing up to do, he was very endearing.
It’s unfortunate, however, that he kind of became more of a jerk later on.
Edward: He did everything he could to keep Bella safe
Edward has many of his own flaws, and one of the worst is that he can be prone to self-loathing. He didn’t want Beall to become a vampire because he thought it would damn her soul, and he also worried about her physical safety because of being in such close proximity to vampires.
While he probably should have stepped back and let her make her own choices, he did want to keep her safe.
Jacob: His family and cultural history was really interesting
The mythology of the shapeshifters is really rather interesting, and many of the Quileute tribe deserve more focus in the books than they got.
Jacob’s connection to the original shapeshifters through his family history was an interesting link, and there were a lot of really cool elements there that could have been looked at even more thoroughly than they were.
Edward: He was more mysterious
Seeing as how Twilight is a romance series at its core, the romantic lead needs to be intriguing and alluring. While Jacob becomes more attractive as he gets a little older and becomes a supernatural creature himself, Edward starts off having the mysterious thing down.
Plus, vampires are meant to be extremely attractive and compelling to humans because it’s part of the way they are able to lure their human prey.
Jacob: He was often more relatable
Edward might have been exciting as a vampire character with a lot of classic romance tropes of the brooding, mysterious man, but Jacob was more relatable.
He was just a teenager that lived a pretty normal life, had a caring father, and hung out with his friends. In New Moon, he was a good friend to Bella, and he struggled to cope with learning he was a werewolf.
Edward: He didn’t imprint on a child
Jacob really didn’t get the best character arc in the series, and seeing as how he’s fictional, we have to remember that these were choices made by the author. Jacob could have been a much more interesting and lovable character if he had stayed more like he was in the first two books.
The whole imprinting thing was just strange and unnecessary, and many fans wish it never happened.
Jacob: He was there for Bella when Edward left
When Edward broke up with Bella, he was trying to do what he thought was best after seeing how easily Bella could be injured or even killed by other vampires. However, he really devastated Bella when he left.
Jacob was there for Bella when she was going through a really hard time. He was willing to put up with her intense emotions and depression, and it’s a shame that he started to grow resentful.
Edward: He was more consistent
Edward definitely has flaws and some negative character traits, but he does stay pretty consistent throughout the series. He generally wants to make sure Bella is safe, and he worries about her being able to make the choices that are best for her.
Jacob has moments where he seems like a better person than Edward, but then he ruins it all by being completely scary later on.
Jacob: Edward was too controlling
The biggest black mark against Edward was his tendency to be way too controlling.
Trying to keep someone safe is a good thing, but it’s not okay to use that as an excuse to control another person. One of the worst things he did was to ruin Bella’s truck to keep her from going to see Jacob. That’s abusive behavior for sure.
Edward: Jacob assaulted Bella
Edward was in the wrong when he was controlling, but Jacob was no saint. One of the most upsetting scenes in the books is when Jacob kisses Bella in Eclipse.
She tells him no, and she even pushes him away forcefully, but he keeps kissing her anyway. He very clearly assaulted her, but this gets somewhat brushed off, except by Edward who is upset by it. It’s hard to be on Jacob’s side after this.